Confessions of a Mouse-a-holic

I can't believe, really, that it took me this long to finally try out a tablet for digital drawing. Since my Sophomore year in High School (1996) I've been using a mouse as my key interface with every drawing program I've ever used.

For some reason, i had the crazy idea that I didn't need a tablet - that I was so adept with the use of a mouse for drawing that a tablet would actually be a downgrade.

I was so wrong.

Last week I finally decided to try out my brother's Wacom tablet... and it's glorious.

I'm still getting used to the disconnected feel of drawing with a pen while looking away from my hand, but so far I've greatly improved my line-art and tripled my speed.

With a mouse there were, plainly, things i avoided trying to draw. Things with odd shapes like hands and feet were exceedingly difficult - more than they should be - because maneuvering the mouse to get a line shaped properly would take four times longer. Most of the time, I'd have to go back over the line 30 times or make hundreds of adjustments to the curve of the line using the shaping tool in flash.

I also couldn't get minute details to look right using the mouse, so I often avoided embellish lines - which made my drawings look much plainer than I had envisioned.

Come to think of it, most of what i ever drew with a mouse was lacking something I'd imagined because i didn't have the patience to spend 3 hours on a 50 pixel square.

That's behind me now, though. With the tablet I've commandeered from my brother (he's not getting it back), I've already gone back to some old drawings and revised them (as seen below).

In closing; take it from a long-time mouse-a-holic, get a tablet if you can afford it.

Below are two versions of two different drawings. The first is an interpretation of Black Mage inspired by 8-bit-theater which was done about 4 years ago - with the new version alongside. The second is a self-portrait charicature done about 5 years ago - again, with the new version alongside. I'm not sure on the exact time, but I'm fairly certain the two newer versions were done in less than 1/2 the time of the originals.

Full-size image:
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/569 2/confessions.jpg

Confessions of a Mouse-a-holic

Comments

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TheBoogley 2009-11-09 15:11:07

Yeah, that's great news! :D
but I have one question? Ever given a mouse a tablet?

Helbereth 2009-11-09 15:11:07

I don't understand the question...

Luis 2009-11-09 15:15:30

BOOOOOOOOOOO

Helbereth 2009-11-09 15:15:30

Jealous?

FightingSeraph 2009-11-09 15:17:52

Damn, that's one hell of an improvement! Maybe you could try out more Frame-by-frame animation when you get the chance.

Helbereth 2009-11-09 15:17:52

Already have.

I was able to make a perspective shot of someone's boots as they walk up, pivot and walk away.

And without shooting myself.

And it only took 3 hours.

matt-likes-swords 2009-11-09 15:32:29

BOOOOOOOOO

Helbereth 2009-11-09 15:32:29

Hisssssssssss?

Luis 2009-11-09 15:43:38

Your tablet has affected your shading negatively!

Helbereth 2009-11-09 15:43:38 (Updated 2009-11-09 21:51:00)

Oh trust me, it hasn't. I hadn't shaded the new BM yet.

http://img269.imageshack.us/img26 9/7227/blackmage.jpg

Been working on that today - it's incomplete, though. It's missing the 4th image of BM on the right side.

Hulalaoo 2009-11-09 17:23:44

Luis is a mouse, cool tablet, but in the second draw, i like more in mouse

Helbereth 2009-11-09 17:23:44

The charicature? Really?

You should see them close-up then. The old one is loaded with mistakes I just didn't have the patience to correct. That and it's barely a charicature... it's practically a traced drawing of a picture.

bocodamondo 2009-11-14 13:17:57

wait but how i know
luis is using mouse ?? or not??

Gustavos 2009-11-29 21:42:21

Which is why I wait, wait for December 1st. Where the December Tablets make their debut once again.

I've watched tablets in use in Youtube tutorials. Most notably a mediocre one minute drawing of Mario's face in Flash. A drawing that I could also pull off in ten minutes using a mouse if I can shut off the perfectionist part of me that makes me redraw everything until it looks kind of realistic. A good looking Mario face from me would take hours. And I can only imagine the time reduced if I could just draw it like drawing on a piece of paper.

Now, I'm certainly not a big artist with a pencil, but if it was done in flash, I would have access to optimizing shapes and undoing mistakes in a second, instead of erasing it all and redoing it with a nasty gray spot where the mistake was made. In eigth grade, I had an art class. Just a fundamental art class impossible to fail. But among the many assignments to draw, we had Thursday homework. Draw whatever you feel like and try to make it look nice before you turn it in on Thursday. All the best ones get put on the wall, which I ever so enjoyed. I bragged about how every week I had a new picture of there. Most of my pictures are drawings of video game characters. But a few are NG themed pictures, like the NG tank, which I done almost perfectly. When the year was over, I got all my assignments back, and put my best drawings on my walls in my room. They've given me motivation to work on flash actually. Everytime I see Kirby's happy face, my crappy version of the Resident Evil 4 PS2 cover, and a drawing of Megaman. It keeps me going.

...oh my, I was talking about something wasn't I? Back to my point, I can draw characters, objects, and backgrounds much faster with a tablet, and I can only assume more efficiently. I use to be proud of using a mouse, because my heroes John&Richie used a mouse up until Newgrounds gave them a tablet when they won second in the Pico Day 08 contest. But ever since then, I didn't feel all high and mighty. Things change when your idols cross over to the "darkside".

And so, however or whenever I get a tablet, I hope to create flashes in a fraction of the time. It would be the perfect Christmas present. Way better than any crummy video game.